Its not that hard.. if you can maneuver around the back of the engine bay either by climbing on top or reachin around.. up to you.. if you can change a spare tire.. you can change the wires.. just take your time and do it during the days off so you're not rushin.. ooh.. and don't forget die-electric grease

Well, good news: The new plugs and wires are in, and it passed its emissions test. I also photographed every step of the way, for a later writeup. (Wait until you see the comparison photos of the old and new spark plugs!)

Ironically, the one item that failed was... the gas cap. Gotta get a new one, then have them test that. I'm actually going to have them test both the old and new ones, and prove to me that the old one really is bad by comparison. (Yeah, I've also thought about buying the new one, letting them "approve" it and then returning it afterwards, unless I can see persuasive evidence that the old one has a problem. It'* not an OBD-II system and a leaking cap is not a detectable fault.)

if you need some nasty stock platnium plug pictures let me know, I have 6.

Gas cap can cause you to fail emission? how ??

What kind of plugs did the '93 SSEi have from the factory? The ones I pulled out were 41-600; the new (non-platinum) ones are 41-601. I assume my new ones are correct since the numbers came straight from AC-Delco.

The gap on the old plugs was nothing short of incredible. My gap gauge goes up to .080, but these had to be, at a guess, somewhere around .120 -- and still firing! Another nice touch: the new AC-Delco plugs come perfectly gapped to .060, right out of the box.

They pressurize the cap, and if it can't hold the pressure (I forget the exact numbers he quoted but I think it was around 20-30 psi) for 10-15 seconds or so, it flunks.

That is significant for OBD II systems (it'll set an error code if the cap is loose or otherwise not holding system pressure, and is such a common fault that they're printing reminders right on the cap nowadays about it), but it'* annoying that they would be bothering to test it for OBD I cars as well. After all, I don't think the '93 has a pressurized tank, does it?

This is the first time I've had a gas cap flunk. Maybe I dropped it and dislodged a gasket or something. Haven't had a chance to look at it very closely yet.